Monday, September 14, 2009

Since we are going to be Los Angeles for at least three years, Joy and I decided to spend every Saturday doing something different in the Los Angeles area. This will keep Joy from going crazy from school work and me from going stir crazy while unemployed. Because of the unemployment, our trips also have to be extremely low cost. I am posting these in case anyone is looking for something cheap to do in LA or wants to keep up with what Joy and I are doing. The first Saturday we did this was September 5th. We visited The Getty Center.

The Getty Center is located on Interstate 405 in the mountains that separate Los Angeles from the San Fernando Valley (where we live.) Admission to the museum is free but parking is $15. Fortunately, the Metro 761 which runs near our house stops at the front door.

When you first get to the center, there is a small garden with about a dozen sculptures in it. Here I am attempting to imitate Running Man by Elisabeth Frink. I tried to stay on my tiptoes as long as possible but had put my front foot down by the time Joy took this pic.

After looking at the garden, you have to take a tram to the top of the mountain where the majority of the center is located. The Center is comprised of numerous building holding different types of art, a cafe, many different gardens, a children’s area, and different lookout pavilions. Joy and I spent almost the entire day there looking at the different things it had to offer. The exhibits were varied and very interesting. Here is a picture of Joy beside Van Gogh’s painting “Irises.”

The gardens and lookouts offered views of Santa Monica, the Pacific Ocean, the Santa Monica mountains, Westwood, Beverly Hills, and Downtown Los Angeles. In this final picture, you can see downtown Los Angeles on the far left of the picture.